


A night like any other

by firefox49



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefox49/pseuds/firefox49
Summary: It's just a normal evening in Geralt and Jaskier's lives. That is, until it isn't.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 9
Kudos: 207





	A night like any other

It was a night like any other. Geralt and Jaskier were in a tavern no different from any other tavern they'd stayed in during their travels. Jaskier was, as always, the center of attention, serenading the townsfolk whether they liked it or not. And they were eating it up, cheering him on and throwing coins his direction. Every so often one would hit the lute, and a percussive ringing sound would interrupt the song. Jaskier, without missing a beat, would wag a finger teasingly, saying "you break it, you buy it, now!" The coin's owner would laugh and toss him another. Yes, the locals here were just as predictable as the locals anywhere.

Geralt didn't mind Jaskier being in the spotlight, because it meant the spotlight was off of him for once. He wondered if Jaskier knew that. Hardly a wary eye was shot in his direction when Jaskier took the stage. He liked fading into the background whenever possible.

Jaskier made it impossible to fade into the background.

Whenever they were alone, Geralt felt almost naked. Jaskier's gaze felt like fire on his skin, breaking down every wall he had so carefully built up. He had a funny way of caring deeply by pretending to notice nothing at all. Whenever a local woman came over to chat, looking him up and down like a particularly grisly specimen in a museum more than a living being, Jaskier would swoop in and steal her attention. He had thought it a coincidence the first couple of times, but it happened too consistently for that now.

Jaskier had finished the lively, upbeat song he was playing before, and had now sat on a stool for a slower ballad. It was soft and lilting. Delicate. Geralt knew few humans who were so in tune with other humans without the use of magic. Jaskier knew just how to grab their attention, and make every person in the room feel like he was singing to them and them only. Which is why it didn't surprise him when his heart lurched as Jaskier met his eyes. For a second, he thought he saw Jaskier's smile grow a bit wider and his eye barely flicker into a wink. Then, Geralt watched him wink for real at the girl in the red dress who had been eye-fucking him the whole time. Grow up, he chided himself. Check your ego at the door.

Jaskier could have any woman he wanted. He did, most nights. But when Geralt mentioned that to him, Jaskier snorted and shook his head. "They're not what I'm after, Geralt," he said. "Can't have a wife who fell in love with my stage face, only to have her realize how different my real one is." Geralt supposed that was a good point. Jaskier was much more, what's the word, petulant when he wasn't trying to charm the living daylights out of you. Geralt had stopped minding putting up with it a while ago. There was something endearing about the way Jaskier clung to him in fear every time a stick snapped in the woods. He'd roll his eyes, but there was something incredibly comforting at the thought of someone who would go towards him for safety, rather than away. And something endearing about the way Jaskier would brush himself off and pretend he was the one protecting Geralt after all.

Jaskier's voice washed over him like ocean waves. Geralt had been less transfixed by sirens before. He sang of a lonely maiden, living in a tower by the sea, longing for someone to come and whisk her away. When the song ended, she was old and gray and alone, never having looked for love herself. Geralt could have sworn Jaskier stole a glance at him as the last note rang out, but decided it was the flickering torches.

A few of the men in the tavern were teary-eyed. Geralt was the first one to break the entranced silence with applause, and the rest of the audience followed suit. Jaskier took a showy bow, gathering up the coins from the floor, and accepted praise from the listeners who had converged on him. Geralt turned back around, realizing with a shock that it bothered him. Why? Jaskier's success meant another week of hot meals and beds to sleep in. There was no reason for Jaskier to beeline back to Geralt when there could be more coins--

"So, better or worse than last night?" Jaskier materialized from the crowd, hand on Geralt's shoulder. "My C string came loose halfway through so the shanty was a bit flat but-"

"Better. Much better." Geralt hadn't meant to answer so quickly but the sight of Jaskier singing the ballad, his soft face illuminated by the golden candlelight was still burned into his retinas.

"The witcher approves!" Jaskier shouted to the audience. They cheered, an unusual response to any statement containing the word 'witcher.' He clapped Geralt on the back and took a seat next to him. "Really though, I do want to know what you thought. It's not all about crowd-pleasing, you know."

"Isn't it?" Geralt remarked, doing his best to brush off Jaskier's attentiveness. He snorted at Jaskier's offended expression. "I'm joking. It was good. Really good." Geralt was careful not to stroke Jaskier's ego too much. Any more praise and he might catch on to how much his ballad had really affected Geralt.

\---

They returned to their room in the inn shortly, after Jaskier's fans had dispersed one by one, some leaving him their thanks and others leaving him with an extra coin or two. Geralt, careful not to be in the way, waited for Jaskier in the cool night air, breathing it in gratefully after an evening of stuffy tavern musk. Jaskier had playfully looped his arm through Geralt's on their way. Upon returning Jaskier tossed the coins with the rest of their money, not bothering to count it, and flung himself onto a bed. He was still humming his songs happily as Geralt disrobed and sat on his bed to clean his knives. He hadn't gotten a chance to since his last job, and they were stained a nasty rust color he was determined to expunge.

Jaskier, still full of post-performance energy, hopped over onto Geralt's side of the room, rummaging through his bag. "That manticore blood still there, eh?"

"Careful, they're-"

"Ow!"

"Sharp." Geralt sighed and sheathed the knife again, getting up. Jaskier was hunched over, strangely silent. When Geralt got closer, he saw with horror the agony twisting Jaskier's face. "What did you do?" Jaskier looked up at him, eyes wild. A glance that said _I fucked up._ Now panicked, Geralt reached for his arm.

Breath uneven and shaky, Jaskier extended his hand to reveal the tiniest papercut Geralt had ever seen.

"Oh, piss off." Geralt shoved Jaskier, who was now hysterical with laughter, and returned to his place on the bed.

"I actually had you worried!" He giggled. "How much damage did you really think I could do on accident like that?"

"You never fail to impress me with your new methods of stupidity, Jask," Gerald said dryly.

"Oh, you don't mean that." Jaskier was still laughing and wormed his way beside Geralt on the already-too-small bed. Geralt didn't have time to hide his expression before he looked away. Jaskier paused. "You were actually worried?"

Geralt furrowed his brow in frustration, shaking his head. "Of course I was worried, can't have you bleeding out in here, can I? The townspeople would run me out of here before you could say 'manslaughter.'" He thought his excuse was fairly airtight but Jaskier's expression was that of someone who was realizing something.

Tentatively, he reached toward the knife in Geralt's hand. Geralt pulled it away behind him, slightly annoyed now, but Jaskier kept following, and Geralt didn't realize what was happening until Jaskier's nose was almost touching his. He expected to see a grin on Jaskier's face, but there was none. He was met instead with eyes that looked like they were seeing the moon for the first time.

He didn't move. Geralt felt frozen in place, just breathing and listening to Jaskier's breaths, staring at his eyes, the color of the sea on a perfect day.

He saw Jaskier's eyes dart down and back. This was a glance he couldn't miss.

Fuck it.

Forcing his eyes to shut, he closed the gap between them and placed his lips gingerly on Jaskier's. It still surprised him when he felt Jaskier kiss back, leaning into him softly. When they pulled back, Jaskier's eyes were still half shut. Geralt wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close, kissing him again, less fearfully this time. He felt Jaskier's soft lips smile into the kiss, cupping Geralt's face in his hands. Geralt felt every bottled up feeling, every agonizing night alone, or worse, with someone else, break free from him like a dam. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders and he sank into Jaskier's warmth.

They were content like that until they weren't, and Jaskier fell back onto the bed, pulling Geralt down with him. Geralt's only thought was to be as close to him as possible, and a tongue, then two tongues entered the mix, and Jaskier's hands ran through Geralt's hair almost lazily, as if this were the most natural thing in the world, though Geralt could feel his heart beating like a stormy ocean on the side of a boat. Jaskier pulled away.

"I could get used to this, couldn't you?"

Geralt just smiled and pulled him back in.


End file.
